The Princeton Review has conducted this survey of high school students applying to colleges and parents of college applicants since the 2002-03 school year. The 2008 survey appeared in The Princeton Review book, Best 366 Colleges: 2008 Edition (published August 2007) in a paper version readers could mail or fax to the company. It also ran on www.PrincetonReview.com where users could complete the survey online from early February to March 20, 2008.
Findings for the 2008 survey are based on responses from 10,388 people: 8,776 (84.5%) high school students applying to colleges and 1,612 (15.5%) parents of college applicants. Respondents came from all 50 states, DC, the Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.
The Princeton Review awarded a $1,000 college scholarship to one survey participant chosen at random and sent one of the following Princeton Review books (participants could choose which book) -- Paying for College Without Going Broke, The Guide to College Majors, or Parents' Guide to College Life -- to 25 participants chosen at random.
1) What would be your "dream" college? What college would you most like to attend (or see your child attend) if chance of being accepted or cost were not an issue?"
This was a fill-in-the-blank question.
The 10 colleges students most named were:
1-Harvard, 2-Stanford, 3-Princeton, 4-New York Univ., 5-Yale, 6-Brown, 7-Columbia, 8-Cornell, 9-Univ. of Southern California, 10-UCLA.
The 10 colleges parents most named were:
1-Princeton, 2-Stanford, 3-Harvard, 4-New York Univ., 5-Notre Dame, 6-Cornell, 7-Duke, 8-Yale, 9-Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 10-Brown.
The following questions were all multiple-choice. Respondents could only choose one answer.
For the questions below, the percent of respondents overall (students plus parents) choosing an answer is shown to the left of the answer choice. To the right of it in parentheses are breakouts showing percent of students and percent of parents choosing that answer.
The pluralities (the answer choices receiving the highest percent of responses) are in bold.
2) How many colleges will you (your child) apply to?
38% One to 4 (39% Students, 32% Parents)
42% Five to 8 (41% Students, 48% Parents)
16% Nine to 12 (16% Students, 17% Parents)
04% Thirteen or more (04% Students, 04% Parents)
3) How many colleges do you think you'll visit?
05% None (06% Students, 01% Parents)
57% One to 4 (59% Students, 46% Parents)
27% Five to 8 (25% Students, 37% Parents)
08% Nine to 12 (07% Students, 12% Parents)
03% Thirteen or more (03% Students, 04% Parents)
4) How would you gauge your stress level about the college application process?
18% Very High (18% Students, 17% Parents)
43% High (43% Students, 43% Parents)
 Combined: 61% Very High or High
33% Average ( 33% Students, 35% Parents)
05% Low (05% Students, 04% Parents)
01% Very Low (01% Students, 01% Parents)
5) How would you rate the amount of information and support you've received from your (your child's) school guidance counselor to help you through your (your child's) college applications for admission and financial aid?
08% Outstanding (08% Students, 06% Parents)
23% Very Good (23% Students, 21% Parents)
Combined: 31 % Outstanding or Very Good
31% Adequate (31% Students, 30% Parents)
22% Fair (22% Students, 24% Parents)
16% Poor (16% Students, 19% Parents)
Combined: 38% Fair or Poor
6) Ideally, how far from home would you like the college you (your child) attend(s) to be?
37% 0 to 250 miles (34% Students, 53% Parents)
31% 250 to 500 miles (32% Students, 30% Parents)
17% 500 to 1,000 miles (18% Students, 11% Parents)
15% 1,000 miles or more (16% Students, 06% Parents)
Combined: 53% Parents chose "0 to 250" miles, while 66% of Students chose answers in ranges of 250 miles or more.
7) If you (your child) had a way to compare colleges based on their commitment to environmental issues (from academic offerings to practices concerning energy use, recycling, etc.), how much would this contribute to your (your child's) decision to apply to or attend a school?
06% Strongly (07% Students, 04 % Parents)
17% Very Much( 17% Students, 14% Parents)
Combined: 23% Strongly or Very Much
40% Somewhat (40 % Students, 40 % Parents)
27% Not Much (27 % Students, 31% Parents)
10% Not at All ( 09% Students, 11% Parents)
Combined: 37% Not Much or Not at All
8) If you (your child) had a way to compare colleges based on their campus fire safety policies (e.g. prevalence of sprinklers, smoke detectors, alarm systems, etc.) how much would this contribute to your (your child's) decision to apply to or attend a school?
08% Strongly (07% Students, 11% Parents)
21% Very Much (20 % Students, 29% Parents)
Combined: 29% Strongly or Very Much
39% Somewhat (38% Students, 41% Parents)
25% Not Much (27% Students, 16 % Parents)
07% Not at All (08% Students, 03% Parents)
Combined: 32% Not Much or Not at All
9) What do you estimate your (or your child's) college degree will cost, including four years of tuition, room & board, fees, books and other expenses?
45% More than $100,000 (42% Students, 59% Parents)
26% $75,000 to $100,000 (27% Students, 24% Parents)
Combined: 71% said More than $75,000
15% $50,000 to 75,000 (16% Students, 11% Parents)
10% $25,000 to $50,000 (11% Students, 04% Parents)
04% Up to $25,000 (04% Students, 02% Parents)
Combined: 15% said Less than $50,000
10) How necessary will financial aid (education loans, scholarships or grants) be to pay for your (your child's) college education?
61% Extremely (61% Students, 59% Parents)
23% Very (24% Students, 20% Parents)
Combined: 84% said Very or Extremely Necessary
13% Somewhat (12% Students, 17% Parents)
03% Not at all (03% Students, 04% Parents)
11) What has been, or do you think will be the toughest part of your (your child's) college application experience?
13% Deciding which colleges to apply to (12% Students, 18% Parents)
25% Taking standardized tests such as SAT, ACT, APs (26% Students, 24% Parents)
30% Writing college essays and completing applications (30% Students, 31% Parents)
32% Deciding which college to attend (32% Students, 27% Parents)
12) What's your biggest concern about applying to or attending college?
23% Won't get into first-choice college (23% Students, 21% Parents)
37% Will get into first-choice college, but won't have sufficient funds/financial aid to attend (37% Students, 34% Parents)
27% Will get into a college I (my child) want(s) to attend, but will take on major loan debt to do so (26% Students, 33% Parents)
13% Will attend a college I (my child) may regret (14% Students, 12% Parents)
13) When it comes to choosing which college you (or your child) will attend, which of the following do you think it is most likely to be?
09% College with best academic reputation (10% Students, 8% Parents)
11% College that will be the most affordable (11% Students, 12% Parents)
30% College with best program for my (my child's) career interests (30% Students, 30% Parents)
50% College that will be the best overall fit (49% Students, 50% Parents)
--return to College Hopes and Worries 2008--
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